Railway road-bed.



No; 718,430. PATENTBD JAN.13,"190'3.1 'J. W. COOPER.

RAILWAY. ROAD BED.Y APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1902;'.

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wihwpaea I PATBNTED JAN..13, J. W. COOPER. RAILWAY ROAD BED.

APPLIOATIONI'ILED MAY 7, 1902. I

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.J." W; 00011312. RAILWAY ,RO'AD B'ED.' APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1902.

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w W t a tion of another form of tie.

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

JOHN WV. COOPER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOWILLIAM M. BUSH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

RAILWAY ROAD-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,430, dated January13 1903.

Application filed May 7, 1902. Serial No. 106,316. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN XV. COOPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Roxbury, Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway Road- Beds; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to railway road-beds, and the principles involvedin the invention are applicable either to surface road-beds of overheadelectric cars or for the underground electric system.

The main object of the invention is to provide a firm, solid, andefiective support for the railway-rails, whereby the rails are preventedfrom sagging, dropping, or being bent down, especially at theextremities of the rails or rail-joints, the road-bed hereinafterdescribed being admirably adapted for heavy traffic.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction ofroad-bed which will greatly facilitate the primary building of the roadand also greatly facilitate repairs when necessary.

A road-bed constructed as hereinafter de-' scribed combines strength,simplicity, reliability, and economy both in original construcforstraight sections of the road-bed. Fig. 3

is asimilar view of the tie employed on curved sections of the road.Fig. 4 is a side eleva- Fig. 5 is a crosssection through the road-bed,showing the stringers in the form of I-beams. Fig. 6 is also across-section similar to Fig. 5, showing 'ing a conduit for electricrailways. an enlarged front elevation of one of the wooden stringers.Fig. 7 is a cross-section through a tie, showing the bottom flange. Fig.8is a cross-section similar to Fig. 5, showbrackets or yokes. Fig. 10 isa side elevation of the same. Fig. 11 is a detail perspective view ofone of the chair-plates.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

The tie which forms one of the principal features of the presentinvention is composed of a bar or strap 1 of steel or other metalapproximately of three-eighths or one-half inch in thickness and of alength adapting the tie when completely formed to be of the usual lengthemployed in the construction of steam or electric railways. The width ofthe tie may be eight inches, more or less, and, as shown in Figs. 2 and3, the end portions of the bar or strap are recurved, as shown at 2, andextended inward to form overhanging portions 3, upon which the rails 4rest. hanging portions 3 are horizontal and parallel with the bottom orbody portion 1' of the essentialrequirements being that the ends 85 ofthe body portion of the tie are extended upward and inward, so as tooverlie the body of the tie and be arranged at a distance above the sameequal to the height of the stringers.

Extending lengthwise of the road-bed and 0 directly beneath the rails 4are stringers 7, which in Fig. 5 are shown to consist of I- beams,preferably having smaller flanges 8 at the top than those,9,at thebottom. The flanges;

8 at the top are approximately of the same 5 width as the base-flanges10 of the rails 4, while a the bottom flanges of the stringers 7 may beas much wider as may be deemed expedientl according to the character ofthe traffic for which the road is designed. The stringers 10o restdirectly on the lower body portions 1 of the tie, and the projectinghorizontal end por- Fig. 9 is 55 The over- This exact mantions of thetie rest directly upon the stringers, the parallel portions of the tiebeing held together firmly by means of bolts 11, passing through saidparts. By reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that solid woodenstringers 12 may be used instead of the I-beam stringers. Such woodenstringers will answer the purpose admirably for roads designed for lighttraffic; but for heavy steam-roads and the modern electric roads theI-beam stringers are considered better, as giving greater stability anddurability.

By reference to Fig. 5 it will be seen that each tie is provided at oneedge of the overhanging or projecting portion 3 with a lip 13, formed bycutting and stamping the metal adjacent to the edge of the tie, said lip13 being adapted to project over the base of the adjacent rail 4, asshown. At the opposite side the rail is held by a clip 14, the base ofwhich is provided with an opening to receive one of the bolts 11,hereinabove referred to. Said bolt thus holds the parallel portions ofthe tie together and against the stringer and also retains therail-holding clip in position, the bolt receiving a suitable nut andlock-nut.

In some cases it is desirable to provide the body portion of the tiewith flanges 15, extending lengthwise along the opposite edges thereofand projecting downward from the lowerside of the tie, as shown in Fig.7. These flanges not onlyadd materially to the strength of the tie as awhole, but also assist in anchoring the tie in the ballast and holdingthe same against lateral movement. To further strengthen the tie,tie-rods 16 may be extended between the in Wardly-projecting portions 3of the tie and be secured thereto at one end by one of the bolts 11. andat the other end by means of an auxiliary bolt or fastener 17. In somecases the tie-rods 16 maybe connected directly with the stringers in themanner illustrated in Fig. 1.

In order to facilitate the original construction of the road, as well assubsequent repairs, the openings in the body portion 1 of the tie whichreceive the heads of the bolts 11 are preferably made in keyhole form,so that the heads of the bolts may be passed through the larger portion18 of the hole and afterward beneath the narrower portion 19 thereof. Itwill be noticed that the rail-holding lips 13 of each tie project in thesame direction, one lip engaging the outside flange of one rail and theother lip engaging the inside flange of the other rail. The object ofthis arrangement is to enable a tie to be removed and replaced withoutdisturbing the other ties, the same being accomplished by removing thedetachable clips 14 in amanner which will be readily understood.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the stringers break jointwith the rails, the rail-joints occurring midway between the ends of thestringers. In order to further brace the stringers at their meetingextremities, auxiliary stay or lap rails 20 are inserted receiving holes21. of holes extending at an inclination the railthrough the recurvedend portions of several adjacent ties and firmly held between theparallel portions of the ties, such stay or lap rails being of the sameheight as the stringers.

The tie hereinabove described is the one used for straight sections ofthe road-bed. Where curved sect-ions of the road occur, the tieillustrated in Fig. 3 is used. This tie is the same in shape as the onepreviously described and differs therefrom onlyin respect to theintegral rail-holding lips 13. These lips are dispensed with and in lieuthereof each overhanging portion 3 of the tie is provided withtransverse and converging rows of bolt- By reason of these seriesholding clips 14:, which are used on both sides of each rail, may be setoutward or inward a sufficient distance to compensate for the curvatureof the road-bed at the particular point where the tie is placed. Thisform of tie may of course be used on straight sections of the road; butthe form of tie first described is preferred for that purpose, as it iseasier to put in place and removed.

In adapting the principles of the invention thus far described tounderground electric roads a bracket or yoke 22 is employed, the samecomprising a base 23, which extends lengthwise of the central portion ofthe body 1 of the tie, and upwardly-diverging arms 24:, extending upwardfrom the base at opposite sides of the conduit-walls, which arepreferably formed of sheet metal, as shown at 25, the latter beingsecured in any convenient manner to the inner edges 26 of the arms 24:,which are suitably curved to give the proper transverse contour to theconduit. The upwardly-diverging arms 24 are strengthened by means offlanges 27, while sufficient space is left between the arms to receiveinsulating-hangers 28, which support electric conductor-rails 29,ordinarily arranged at opposite sides of the conduit, as shown. TheWalls 25 of the conduit are also cut away at proper points to receivethe hangers 28. The slotrails 30 rest upon the upper ends of the arms 24and are braced with relation to the railway-rails by means of the tierods or bolts 31.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the all-metal tie isadapted for use either on surface steam or trolley electric road-beds oron underground cable or electric railways, the brackets or yokes 22being applicable to the central body portions of the ties. The ballastis tamped beneath the ties and also beneath the stringers, and thus theties are not required to form the sole support for the rails, as thestringers rest directly on the ballast and are supported practicallythroughout their entire length. The Weight of the cars passing over theroad is thus distributed upon the ties and stringers, it beingimpossible for any particular tie or any particular portion of theroad-bed to be disturbed without affecting the road-bed for aconsiderable distance. The ties and stringers thus foundation for therailway-rails.

mutually support each other and form a firm In order to give greatersecurity, the ties are arranged to alternate with respect to thedirection in which the integral rail-holding lips 13 project, such lipsof one tie projecting in a direction opposite to that in which thecorresponding lips of the adjacent ties on opposite sides thereofproject. Ordinarily it is preferred to place sufiicient ballast on theroad-bed to bring the same up to the level of the bottom of therailwayrails, thus concealing and firmly anchoring the stringers.

In roads designed for especially heavy traffic or where the ties are setat a considerable distance from each other chair-plates 32 are insertedbetween the stringers or I-bear n's and the base of the rails 4, saidplates being substantially square and of a thickness exactly equal tothe distance between the bottom of the rail and the top of the stringer.The chair plates are placed in a position shown in Fig. l and areconstructed as shown in the detail view Fig. 11, each plate beingstamped or out at diagonally opposite points to form lips 33. After theplate is inserted between the rails and stringer one of the lips 33 isbent downward, so as to engage under the top flange of the stringer, theother lip being bent upward, so as to engage over the base-flange of therail. When the lips are so bent, the chair-plate is held in place andcannot escape from between the rail and stringer, even though the lips33 become disengaged from the flange of the rail and stringer. Thechair-plates take the weight of the passing train at points intermediatethe ties and obviate any springing or bending of the rails intermediatetheir other points of support on the ties. V

A simple and effective Way of holding the chair-plate 32 in position istb punch or indent the plate from the under side'and near one edge toform an upwardly-projecting spur 34. When the plate is driven betweenthe rail and stringer, said spur engages the baseflange of the rail andserves to fasten the plate in place and keeps the lips 33 in engagementwith the fianges of the rail and stringer.

Various changes may be made in the form, proportion, and minor detailsof construction without departing from the principle or sacrificing anyof the'advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In arailway road-bed, the combination of a series of ties havinginwardly-projecting portions which overhang the bodies of the ties,stringers extending lengthwise of the road-bed, and passing beneath saidprojecting portions, and railway-rails supported on the projectingportions of the ties directly over the stringers;

2. In a railway road-bed, the combination of metal ties having recurvedinwardly-extending overhanging portions equipped with inward to formoverhanging portions, string ers extending lengthwise of the road-bedand passing between the bodies of the ties and said overhangingportions, railway-rails supported on said overhanging portions of theties directly above the stringers, and means for securing the rails andstringers to the ties.

4. In railway road-beds, the combination of a series of metal tieshaving their ends bent upward and inward to form overhanging portions,tie-rods connecting said overhanging portions, stringers passing beneaththe overhanging portions of the ties, railway-rails supported on theoverhanging portions of the ties above the stringers, and means forsecuring the rails and stringers to the ties. I

5. In railway road-beds, the combination of metal ties having their endsbent upward and inward to form overhanging portions and provided withkeyhole-openings arranged below and in vertical alinement with otheropenings in said overhanging portions, bolts removably fitted in saidopenings, stringers passing between the body portions and overhangingportions of theties and secured by said bolts, railway-rails resting onsaid overhanging portions directly over the stringers, and means forsecuring said rails to the ties.

6. In railway road-beds, a tie composed of a metal bar or strap havingthe ends thereof bent upward and inward to form overhanging portions,said overhanging portions being provided with transversely-extendingconverging rows of bolt-receiving holes, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

7. In railway road-beds, the combination of a series of ties havinginwardly-extending overhanging portions, stringers extending lengthwiseof the road-bed and passing beneath the overhanging portions, and stayor lap rails arranged at one side of the joints between the stringersand passing beneath the overhanging portions of the ties, substana tiecomposed of a metal bar or strap having the ends thereof bent upward andinward to form overhanging portions for the support of therailway-rails,stringers extending beneath said overhanging portions, abracket or yoke secured to the central portion of the tie and comprisingupwardly-diverging arms, slotrails resting upon said arms,insulating-hangers mounted between the arms, conductorrails supported bysaid hangers, and a sheetmetal wall secured to the upwardly-extend ingarms of the yoke or bracket and forming a subway or conduit,substantially as described.

10. In a railway road-bed, the combination of a series of ties havinginwardly-projecting overhanging portions,stringers extending beneathsaid overhanging portions,railway-rails resting upon the overhangingportions, and chair-plates interposed between the stringers and rails atpoints intermediate the ties, said JOHN W. COOPER.

Witnesses:

EDGAR B. OHATTERTON, CHARLES J. MAsoN.

